Rabies vaccination for dogs

Vaccination of a dog against rabies is a mandatory measure for every owner who values ​​the life and health of both his pet and everyone around him. And, of course, your life and health in particular.

Rabies is a disease caused by the Rabies virus and transmitted in saliva by the bite of an infected animal. The incubation period of the disease is always different and ranges from several days to a year. The virus spreads along the nerves to the brain and, upon reaching it, causes irreversible changes. Rabies is dangerous for all warm-blooded.

Despite the incurable nature of rabies and the real threat to both animals and humans, many pet owners today neglect vaccination. The classic excuse is: “Why would my pet dog (or cat) get rabies? This will definitely not happen to us!” But statistics show the opposite: in 2015, 6 Moscow clinics declared quarantine in connection with an outbreak of this disease, and between 2008 and 2011, 57 people died from rabies. In almost all cases, the sources of infection were already sick domestic dogs and cats!

If, thanks to the colossal discovery of Louis Pasteur, who developed the first rabies vaccine in 1880, infection can be prevented today, then the disease can no longer be cured after the onset of symptoms. This means that all infected animals with symptoms inevitably die. The same fate, unfortunately, applies to people.

After an animal bite (both wild and domestic), it is necessary to carry out a course of injections as soon as possible in order to destroy the disease in its infancy, before the first signs appear.

If you or your dog is bitten by another pet who has already been vaccinated against rabies, the risk of infection is minimal. In this case, it is necessary to verify the authenticity of the vaccination. Depending on who was bitten (human or animal), contact the emergency room and / or the Station for the Control of Animal Diseases (SBBZH = state veterinary clinic) for further recommendations.

If you are bitten by an unvaccinated wild or stray animal, you should contact the clinic (SBBZH or emergency room) as soon as possible and, if possible, bring this animal with you to the SBZZh for quarantine (for 2 weeks). 

If it is not possible to safely deliver an animal (without new injuries) that has bitten you and your pet, you must call the BBBZ and report the dangerous animal so that it can be captured. If symptoms appear, the animal will be euthanized and the bitten person will receive a full course of injections. If the animal is healthy, the course of injections will be interrupted. If it is not possible to deliver the animal to the clinic, the victim is given a full course of injections.

How do domestic dogs and cats not in contact with wild animals – natural reservoirs of infection – become infected with rabies? Very simple. 

While walking in the park, a rabies-infected hedgehog bites your dog and transmits the virus to it. Or an infected fox that has come out of the forest into the city attacks a stray dog, who, in turn, transmits the virus to a purebred Labrador walking peacefully on a leash. Another natural reservoir of rabies is mice, which live in large numbers within the city and come into contact with other animals. There are many examples, but facts are facts, and rabies today is a real threat to both pets and their owners.

The situation is complicated by the fact that it is not always possible to determine whether animals are sick by external signs. The presence of the virus in the saliva of the animal is possible even 10 days before the first signs of the disease appear. 

For some time, an already infected animal can behave quite normally, but already pose a threat to everyone around.

As for the symptoms of the disease, the infected animal shows dramatic changes in behavior. There are two conditional forms of rabies: “kind” and “aggressive”. With “kind” wild animals stop being afraid of people, go out into the cities and become affectionate, just like pets. A good domestic dog, on the contrary, can suddenly become aggressive and not let anyone near him. In an infected animal, coordination of movements is disturbed, the temperature rises, salivation increases (more precisely, the animal simply cannot swallow saliva), hallucinations, water, noise and light sensation develop, convulsions begin. At the last stage of the disease, paralysis of the whole body occurs, which leads to suffocation.

The only way to protect your pet (and everyone around you) from a terrible disease is vaccination. An animal is injected with a killed virus (antigen), which provokes the production of antibodies to destroy it and, as a result, further immunity to this virus. Thus, when the pathogen enters the body again, the immune system meets it with ready-made antibodies and immediately destroys the virus, preventing it from multiplying.

The body of the pet is sufficiently protected only with annual vaccination! It is not enough to vaccinate an animal once at the age of 3 months to protect it from rabies for life! In order for immunity against the virus to be sufficiently stable, revaccination should be carried out every 12 months!

The minimum age of a dog for the first vaccination is 3 months. Only clinically healthy animals are allowed to the procedure.

By vaccinating your pet annually, you will greatly reduce your pet’s risk of contracting rabies. However, no vaccine provides 100% protection. In a small number of animals, antibodies are not produced at all for the administration of the drug. Be sure to keep this in mind and follow the recommendations described above.

• Before Louis Pasteur invented the first rabies vaccine in 1880, this disease was 100% fatal: all animals and people bitten by an already infected animal died.

• The only species in nature whose immunity can cope with the disease on its own is foxes.

• The name “rabies” comes from the word “demon”. Just a few centuries ago, it was believed that the cause of the disease was the possession of evil spirits.

The article was written with the support of an expert: Mac Boris Vladimirovich, veterinarian and therapist at the Sputnik clinic.